An expedition of the Burpee Museum of Natural History unearthed the fossil remains of a Nanotyrannus specimen in a remote area of the Badlands (Maastrichtian, Hell Creek Formation) of southeastern Montana. Untill now the only known fossil of Nanotyrannus is the true type of Nanotyrannus lancensis found in 1942, an isolated skull 57,2 cm in length which was not found in association with any other tyrannosaurid material.

The skull was low with a long and narrow snout and has similar features to that of T. rex. It also had a stereoscopic view. The Burpee team has recovered 68 bones, including parts of the jaw, tail, hip, and an arm and leg, some of the serrated teeth that are clearly different than those of a T. rex were more than 10 cm long.

The museum has named its dinosaur \\\\\\\"Jane\\\\\\\" in honor of a major benefactor. Paleontologist Bakker said that this find belongs to the ten most important dinosaur discoveries in the past one hundred years. Mr. Peter Larson, Director and President of the Black Hills Institute in Rapid City, South Dakota agreed “This is one of the most important finds of the last century because it’s been a mystery dinosaur... What the Burpee has is basically a new dinosaur that is very complete and very well preserved... It’s clearly an adult, clearly not a juvenile T-rex and clearly a tyrannosaurid.”

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